“No. It sounds honorable.” And heroic. “You’re right, until I met you, when I saw a police car I assumed they were trying to fill their quota in traffic tickets. It doesn’t seem like they are necessarily accessible to the everyday person, I guess.” Laurie smiled at him. “Kitner is lucky to have you on its side.”
Tuck was an extremely handsome man and if she thought he couldn’t get any more so, the red tinging his ears and the way he got that half smile when he turned from her proved her wrong. She nudged him with her elbow. “Come on, Jeeves. To the park.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Right away, Ma’am.” He gave her a grin as he maneuvered his truck out of the crowded parking lot and back onto the street.
~
Tuck pulled up to the duck pond and parked the truck near the area where he had found Laurie before. The area was deserted save for one jogger brave enough to face the cooler weather and wet paths.
“I don’t think I’m dedicated enough to be a jogger,” Laurie said, shaking her head. “Talk about dedication.”
“I actually did jog back when I was at the police academy. It was enjoyable enough. But I prefer to use the gym behind the station now.”
“You work out at the gym?”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “A couple times a week. Why? Is that a surprise?”
“No. But it explains a lot.” She was blushing furiously at her words. “Ugh, never mind. Let’s go for a walk.” Taking her seat belt off, she moved to get out of the truck.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. She halted at the touch, but didn’t turn around.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice husky. “And for the record, you are beautiful when you blush.”
She let out a little laugh and ducked her head. He couldn’t see her face but had a feeling the blush she sported might have spread even further. Opening his door, he relished the feel of cool air hitting his face.
He attached a leash to Rogue’s collar and led him around the truck to join Laurie. “Let’s stick to the sidewalk.”
“I agree, or we’ll be a muddy mess.”
Tuck extended a hand to her and she pulled one of her own from a jacket pocket and placed it in the warmth he offered. His stomach did a flip flop at the softness of her touch.
They walked for a while in comfortable conversation. Rogue was happy to prance next to his owner, tongue lolling, and his nose in the air picking up different scents. Any ducks nearby kept their distance from the canine. The time went by quickly. Tuck checked his watch and reluctantly tugged her back in the direction of his truck. “We had better go and pick up that pie before we’re late.”
Laurie nodded her agreement. “Thank you again for lunch. It’s been the best Sunday I can remember in a long while.”
He smiled, rubbing his thumb on the back of her hand. “Same here.” He unlocked the truck, urged Rogue to hop in, but stopped Laurie by reaching for her hand again. “I hope this is the start of many days like this.” He touched the back of his fingers to her cheek, catching some stray strands of her hair. He carefully tucked them behind her ear. When she looked up at him, he thought he might drown in the depth of her eyes.
His gaze swept over her face and settled on her lips. When she drew that bottom lip between her teeth, he bent low and captured it with his own. She leaned into him, returning the kiss. Relishing the warmth of her lips, he cradled the back of her head with one hand and slipped the other around her waist. Laurie’s hands clasped behind his neck.
He broke their kiss and rested his forehead against Laurie’s. The last thing he wanted to do was go to his mom’s house. He drank in the light dancing in her eyes as he held her in his arms. Her hands had dropped to rest against his chest.
“We’d probably better get inside before you freeze. And before Daisy gives our pie away.”
~
The front door opened and Patty ushered them inside with a welcoming smile. “My goodness, it’s getting colder by the hour. Come inside.” She reached down to give Rogue a pat.
Laurie squeezed through with her camera bag and sack of food. “Thank you, Mrs. Chandler.”
“It’s Patty, honey. Call me Patty. Here, let me take that from you and put it in the kitchen. Oh! That salad looks good and those cookies look heavenly!”
Laurie turned to the living room to find Grams and Serenity watching. Rogue had already started his rounds, greeting each person and enjoying the pettings they had to offer. “I hope you don’t mind if I move on in here.” She heard a noise and saw Tuck come into the house with a duffel bag and a small, rolling piece of luggage containing some cloth backdrops and a few other things she never left home without. “Almost literally. I usually use a small fraction of what I bring, but I like to be prepared.”
“We brought a pie along, too,” Tuck said as he went by on his way to the kitchen.
Laurie sat down with Serenity and went over some of her shot ideas, trying to get a feel for which Gideon might do and which he would dislike. She always wanted to find out if it would be easier to do outdoors first or indoors.
Once they had a game plan, she stood with her hands on her hips and looked at her equipment. “Alright, let’s do some shots in his room first. Let me get a few things out.”
Serenity had already dressed Gideon in the clothes she wanted him to wear. Laurie attached her external flash to her Canon DSLR and followed her down the hall. “First, I’m going to capture some candid shots while he’s playing, let him get used to the flash and the fact that I’m taking photos of him.”
Serenity nodded and hung back while Laurie made herself comfortable on the floor in front of Gideon. “Hey, buddy! It looks like you’re having fun there.”
He was playing with his trains, which were currently heaped in a pile. Laurie took a few pictures to get her settings right. Then she brought up the pictures on the view screen. She turned it so that he could see them. “I’m going to be taking some pictures of you today. See? After I take them, they show up on the screen. Isn’t that cool? If you ever want to see the pictures, you just let me know, and I’ll show them to you.”
She snapped a few more pictures as he sat there, watching her. The flash was angled at the ceiling and didn’t seem to bother him. When his curiosity about the camera seemed to wane, she made a suggestion.
“Can I show you something fun? Here, let’s grab this box and put it down here.” She moved the box to the floor next to the bed. “Is it okay if I use one of your trains?”
She reached for a yellow train and when he didn’t object, she picked it up. “Thank you! Okay, what about this?” Laurie took the train and made “choo-choo” noises as she drove it along the bed and then let it fall over the edge to watch it crash in the box.
Gideon’s first reaction was a big smile, but then his eyebrows came together in a scowl. He scooped the train up out of the box, gathered all of the other trains together and deposited them on the bed.
Laurie’s gaze swung to Serenity in the doorway.
“He has to order them by color first.”
“Ah, gotcha. Sorry about that, buddy.”
She took a photo or two as he did just that. When he was ready, he drove the red train across the bed and let it fall off the side. As soon as it began its plunge, Gideon’s face lit up. By the second train car, he was laughing. Laurie took photos until he had driven each of the train cars off the bed and into the box. Putting the camera aside, she clapped her hands. “That was awesome, Gideon! Good job!” That earned her brief eye contact with a smile. She looked up to find Serenity with a matching smile on her face. “Let’s give him a few minutes to play that game, then we’ll redirect. I would like to get a picture or two of you both together.”
At her words, Serenity immediately shook her head. “Oh, I don’t think so. We don’t need pictures of me. Just Gideon will be fine.”
“Please? Does he like it when you read to him?”
Serenity nodded.
“Do you usually read here at bedtime, in
the living room, or where?”
“Usually in the rocking chair in the living room.”
“Perfect!” Laurie grinned. “I’ll be back, let me go get set up.”
She went out to the living room. Everyone else was in the kitchen. She angled the rocking chair. It would be easier to take photos without the other furniture getting in the shot. She might have moved the chair completely, but Laurie was afraid that, if she changed the layout too much, it might make Gideon uncomfortable. She wanted it to all feel natural to him. She grabbed a book from one of her bags and went back down the hall.
When she entered the room again, Gideon looked up. “Hey, buddy. I have a book you might like. Would you like to see it?”
He hesitated a moment, but stood and approached her. Laurie took the book out from behind her back. He saw the red train on the front and reached for it. She knelt down in front of him. “I will give this book to you and you can keep it if you come out into the living room so that your mommy can read it to you. Will you do that for me?”
Without taking his eyes off the book, Gideon walked past her and into the hall.
“Alright! Come on, big guy.” Laurie winked at Serenity. “Come on, mama.”
She watched as Serenity sat in the rocking chair and patted her lap. Gideon immediately complied, curling up on her lap and leaning into the crook of his mother’s arm, as she began to read the story.
They looked peaceful and perfect. Moving to get different angles and different distances, she took at least two dozen photos. She moved to go to the kitchen to let mother and son finish their book in peace when she saw everyone was standing in the doorway, watching.
“I’m officially impressed,” Patty said, pulling Laurie into a hug. “That you got Serenity to agree to be in a photo with Gideon is amazing. She will treasure this picture forever.”
“I told you she had mad skills, Mom,” Tuck said, throwing a wink in Laurie’s direction. He took a big bite out of a cookie. “Though you may have missed your true calling as a baker with these cookies.” He held the partially eaten treat out and for emphasis and popped the rest of it into his mouth with a flourish.
Ducking her head, Laurie chuckled. “I’m glad you like them.” Laurie motioned to the living room. “I’m happy to do this for them.” She went to the back door and looked outside. There was no snow yet and there was only a slight breeze. Even though she could tell it was cold, she thought the weather conditions were about as good as they could be given the time of year. And with the amount of grass in the backyard – even if it was dead – there wasn’t as much mud to contend with as there could be. “Do you have anything to eat that Gideon loves? A little treat or something like that?”
Grams went to the cupboard and pulled out a box of animal cookies.
Laurie remembered Lexi telling her that the boy was addicted to them. “Perfect!” She jerked a thumb towards the door. “I want to get a couple pictures outside quick but I know it’s cold. I was thinking we could send him outside to swing for a few minutes, get a few shots, and then tell him there were animal cookies inside to have him come back in before he gets too cold. Do you think that will work?”
“Oh yes, he’ll do almost anything for one.” Tuck’s eyes twinkled. “And I do mean anything.”
Laurie chuckled as Serenity and Gideon entered the kitchen. “How about a quick swing outside? Does that sound good?” She didn’t think he was going to agree, but then he pulled the door open and dashed outside, Rogue following on his heels. “That’s my queue!” She stopped in front of the swings, adjusted her settings, and managed to catch a couple of photos of the boy draping himself over the swing and using his feet to push himself up and fall back down again. Several pictures later, he started to look cold. She suggested the cookies. He didn’t hesitate to head back inside.
Rogue, however, was in less of a hurry. He was lounging on the brown grass, a stick between his paws. Completely unaware of the cold weather, he gnawed on the stick, content. Unable to help herself, Laurie lowered herself to the ground. Adjusting the settings on her camera for a shallow depth of field, she took several pictures of Rogue, including one where the dog was staring off to the side. Smiling, Laurie stood and headed back inside.
For the last set of pictures, Laurie focused on Gideon as he ate his cookies, lining the animals up like they were marching in a circus. Satisfied, she turned her camera off, replaced the lens cap, and leaned back in the chair. The whole process had taken an hour and a half and had gone much smoother than she had planned for. She caught Tuck’s nod and smile and felt the warmth radiate with his approval.
“I can’t wait to see the pictures,” Serenity said quietly. “Thank you. You are patient and considerate. Not at all what I expected when Tuck suggested a photographer.” The moisture in her eyes was unmistakable.
“It’s truly my pleasure,” Laurie said. “Photo shoots like this are the highlights of my job. All kids are great. But when a child like Gideon gives me a smile, there is something genuine about that because it’s not something he does for anyone. It has been a privilege to be a part of this today.” Serenity wiped tears from her cheeks and Laurie stood, giving the woman a hug. “You have an amazing son,” she whispered. “And he has an amazing mom. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.” Serenity nodded into her shoulder and hugged her back.
Chapter Fourteen
Tuck watched his little sister and Laurie exchange a hug and stared in wonder. Wow, God sure knew how to work miracles. He had been worried about Serenity for a while now, and seeing her let go a little like this was a good thing. That Laurie was a part of it awed him even more. He prayed that God would let His will be done in the relationship between him and Laurie. Because, heaven knew, he was already crazy about her.
The ladies stepped back and then Patty and Grams went in to hug Serenity. Wiping her hands on her slacks, Laurie moved to give them room.
Placing a hand on each of her shoulders, Tuck leaned down to whisper in her ear, “You are incredible. You know that, right?”
He felt Laurie shrug and he responded by kissing the top of her head.
“Okay, everyone. Enough of this lovey stuff.” Grams clapped her hands together to get attention, answered by several laughs. “This old woman is hungry and I say it’s time to eat.” She looked around the room. “Is Lexi going to make it tonight?”
“No,” Patty replied. “She texted me a while ago and she’s got another double shift tonight. She won’t be here.”
“We’ll save her some food,” Grams decided. “And we better set it aside first because I have a feeling the rest is going to disappear fast.” Her comment was in general, but she pierced Tuck with a knowing look.
“Does he usually eat a lot?” Laurie asked, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Serenity gave her brother a good-natured nudge with her shoulder. “Have you seen the guy? He’s part giant. He eats more than the rest of us put together.”
“Ha ha, everyone. I only eat more than two or three of you combined. Let’s not exaggerate, Sis.” Tuck easily picked Serenity up and rubbed his knuckles on her head.
Laurie gave him a wink. “As long as you save me a piece of apple pie, we’re good.”
Tuck grinned down at her. “Are you kidding, say the word and the whole thing’s yours. I would fight off all three of these other women so that you could have it.” He looked around with embellished caution. “Besides, everyone can have that pie – I’ll take the cookies you made. Seriously, I may have to request some more of those. They are amazing.”
Letting Laurie’s giggles wash over him, Tuck knew there was no place he would rather be.
When the evening was over, Tuck drove Laurie home. He wanted to make sure she was comfortable with her new gun. After helping her carry all of her things into the studio, she went upstairs and came back with the box.
She took out the Smith & Wesson and laid it on the table. “I opened it last night and looked at it. I even got the magazine loaded
.”
“Nice,” he said. “How did you feel handling it?”
“I kept second guessing myself. I’ll be glad when I can take it and go shooting.”
“We’ll go sometime this week.” He went over everything again with Laurie and she seemed much more confident when they were done than when they started. “I have a surprise for you,” he said. When she tried to get him to say what it was, he shook his head. “You stay here. It’s in my truck – I’ll be right back.”
He returned with a bag in one hand. “I obviously spent a great deal of time wrapping this up and making it presentable.”
Laughing, she took the bright yellow store bag. “Wow, this is heavy!”
He nodded at it. “Check it out.”
She opened the bag and pulled the box, reading the description. “A gun safe?”
“This makes it possible for you to move the gun wherever you need it to be. You can bring it down here in the studio and not have to worry about someone gaining access to it. Here, let me show you.”
Together, they opened the box and pulled the small safe out. It was the perfect size for her new firearm and it sat inside nicely, with enough room for two magazines to lie beside it.
“And you can program a code that only you will know. But it’s a fast, four-digit code. You can get the safe opened quickly if you need to.”
Laurie beamed at him. “Thank you. This was thoughtful of you.” She picked up the instruction booklet, figuring out how to set a password. “You’re right, I wasn’t planning on bringing the gun down here. I have many people coming in and out with sessions – especially children. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable with that.”
“And now?”
“Whether I’m down here or in my apartment, my gun will be in the same room.”
Finding Peace (Love's Compass #1) Page 11